RBI Imposes Monetary Fines on Union Bank of India, Bajaj Finance Limited & RBL Bank
RBI Imposes Monetary Fines on Union Bank of India, Bajaj Finance Limited & RBL Bank
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have imposed hefty monetary fines on 3 banks namely Union Bank of India, RBL Bank & Bajaj Finance Limited.
As per further information from 3 press releases of RBI, following are the entire details of fining the 3 banks:
· RBL Bank:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated September 28, 2023, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹64 Lakh (Rupees Sixty Four Lakh only) on RBL Bank Limited (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions of Reserve Bank of India (Prior approval for acquisition of shares or voting rights in private sector banks) Directions, 2015. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI conferred under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Sections 46 (4) (i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.
The Statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (lSE 2020) of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2020, and the examination of the Risk Assessment Report / Inspection Report pertaining to ISE 2020, and all related correspondence in that regard revealed, inter alia, non-compliance with the aforesaid directions by the bank, to the extent it failed to (i) obtain annual declaration in Form B from one of its major shareholders, within one month of the close of the three financial years ending on March 31, 2018, March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020, and (ii) furnish certificates to RBI regarding continuance of the ‘fit and proper’ status of one of its major shareholders, by the end of September of the said three financial years. In furtherance to the same, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for failure to comply with the said direction, as stated therein.
After considering the bank’s reply to the notice, and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI concluded that the charge of non-compliance with the aforesaid RBI directions was substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty on the bank.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated October 03, 2023, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1 Crore (Rupees One Crore only) on Union Bank of India (the bank) for non-compliance with directions issued by RBI on ‘Loans and Advances – Statutory and Other Restrictions’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI conferred under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Sections 46 (4) (i) and 51(1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.
The Statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (lSE 2021) of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2021. The examination of the Risk Assessment Report / Inspection Report pertaining to ISE 2021, and all related correspondence in that regard revealed, inter alia, non-compliance with the aforesaid directions by the bank, to the extent it sanctioned a term loan to a Corporation (i) in lieu of or to substitute budgetary resources envisaged for certain projects; (ii) without undertaking due diligence on the viability and bankability of the projects to ensure that revenue streams from the projects were sufficient to take care of the debt servicing obligations; and (iii) the repayment / servicing of which was made out of budgetary resources. In furtherance to the same, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for failure to comply with the said direction, as stated therein.
After considering the bank’s reply to the notice, and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI concluded that the charge of non-compliance with the aforesaid RBI directions was substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty on the bank.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated September 28, 2023, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹8.50 Lakh (Rupees Eight Lakh Fifty Thousand only) on Bajaj Finance Limited, Pune, Maharashtra (the company) for non-compliance with the ‘Monitoring of Frauds in NBFCs (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016’ issued by RBI. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of Section 58 G read with clause (aa) of sub-section (5) of Section 58 B of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the company with its customers.
The statutory inspection of the company was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2022, and examination of the Risk Assessment Report and Inspection Report pertaining to the aforementioned inspection and all related correspondence pertaining to the same, revealed, inter alia, non-compliance with the RBI directions to the extent of not reporting and delay in reporting of certain frauds to RBI. Consequently, a notice was issued to the company advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed for its failure to comply with the RBI directions, as stated therein.
After considering the company’s reply to the notice, additional submissions made by it and oral submissions made during the Personal Hearing, RBI concluded that the charge of non-compliance with the aforesaid RBI directions was substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty, to the extent of such non-compliance with such directions.
Shreyas Vange
